After a rough couple of weeks, Trump descended upon Phoenix, Arizona, one of his first campaign stops in 2015, to hold a rally. Although Arizona has been a stronghold for Trump in the past, a new poll shows that now most voters in the state do not approve of the Trump presidency. That didn’t seem to slow Trump down at all, however. In the 77-minute tirade, the President attacked the media; praised the notoriously anti-immigrant former sheriff (and convicted criminal) Joe Arpaio; criticized efforts to take down confederate statues; boasted about his immigration policies (and crowd sizes, of course); pushed for the repeal and replace of the ACA; threatened to shut down the government over funding for the border wall; and, scolded both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. And this isn’t an exhaustive list.
Trump started his speech by reading pieces of his three speeches on the Charlottesville attacks, claiming that the “truly dishonest people in the media and the fake media” were intent on misconstruing his words and criticizing his responses no matter what. But, in reading from his speeches, he left out some of the most critical parts like: condemning bigotry on “many sides,” and claiming there were “very fine people” advocating for white supremacy. He continued to use dog whistles throughout the speech, such as defending “our shared customs, traditions, and values” and arguing that others are trying to “take away our culture.”
His lies and misinformation didn’t stop there. He claimed he had achieved the most so far of any president (false). He argued that Trumpcare would help the people of Arizona (it wouldn’t). And he asserted that immigrants are a drain on the economy (they aren’t). But perhaps the most egregious portion of the entire speech was his praise for former sheriff Joe Arpaio, and his suggestion that he would pardon Arpaio in the coming days. Ironically, his pardon comments were made while talking about the importance of the rule of law. Arpaio has “no regard for the Constitution, for the rule of law, or for basic human decency,” and pardoning him would only continue to revitalize the white supremacist, racist movement in this country.
ACTION OF THE DAY
#TakeThemDown. In last night’s rally, Trump declared that people “are trying to take away our history and our heritage” by removing confederate statues. But confederate statues are intended to honor white supremacy, not remember historic events. Let’s send a clear message to local elected officials—it’s time to #TakeThemDown. To reach out to your local representatives, use this easy tool.
WHAT’S TRENDING
National Parks Under Attack. Trump is defending confederate monuments and silently working to close or alter 21 national parks and monuments—many of which protect Native American history and culture. Despite widespread support for maintaining or expanding protected national lands—98 percent of 2.8 million comments
submitted to the Interior Department were in favor of the parks—Trump may push forward with closing some of these incredible sites as soon as today to appeal to his right-wing base. Some of the loudest opponents of these national sites? Anti-government militia groups and extremists.
Russiagate. As Mueller’s investigations into Trump and his associates heats up, we’re keeping track of how deep the collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government really was. To learn more about the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, check out our report here.
Coal Is Dirty. In Arizona last night, Trump boasted about reviving the clean coal industry. He explained the industry by saying, “They’re taking out coal, [then] they’re going to clean it.” But clean coal is just a myth, promoted by people intent on keeping coal at the top of the energy agenda. Take it from a coal CEO himself, Robert Murray, who admits, “It is neither practical nor economic, carbon capture and sequestration. It is just cover for the politicians, both Republicans and Democrats…”
#QuitTheCommission. Following the lead of so many others, several members of the President’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council, which focuses on infrastructure security, have resigned. This comes just days after the White House announced that it would no longer pursue a plan to create a new infrastructure council. But some advisory councils still remain, such as the President’s Commission on Election Integrity which threatens to use the toxic myth of voter fraud to silence the voices of Americans through illegal voter purges and discriminatory barriers to voter registration. Use our tool to tell the remaining members to #QuitTheCommission!
UNDER THE RADAR
#ExxonKnew: A new study from Harvard University
researchers confirmed that while ExxonMobil spread climate misinformation for decades, their own scientists have long known the truth. Researchers found more than 80% of the company’s internal communications and papers written by Exxon scientists acknowledged the scientific consensus that climate change is happening and human activity is the main cause. But that’s not what they presented to the public in their advertising. The authors of the report said there was a “systematic, quantifiable discrepancy” between what Exxon Mobil’s executives and scientists knew and what they downplayed to the public.